Melmich Runs Win Streak to Five With Durham Triumph

Melmich scored a blowout victory in the $125,000 Durham Cup Stakes (G3) to run his win streak to five straight Sept. 30 at Woodbine. 

The Kevin Attard trainee circled the field of five and drew off down the stretch to win the 1 1/8-mile  test in a 7-1/2-length romp on the main track with Eurico Rosa Da Silva along for the ride.

"He's such a nice horse, I'm just very lucky and I'm very grateful to be a part of this team," said Da Silva. "He's a very, very nice horse, very easy horse to ride and he just gives you everything he has every time."

The 3-5 favourite raced inside fifth early on while U S Marshal engaged early leader Leavem in Malibu with Narrow Escape and Keen Gizmo joining the fray three and four-wide down the backside on the way to three-quarters in 1:12.99. Leavem in Malibu gave way then Melmich stormed by the top three that had continued to duel around the final turn en route to victory in 1:49.86.

"He was running very, very relaxed inside," said Da Silva. "I was just seeing who was going to make the move and then I saw Patrick make a move outside and the pace picked up and I was just very lucky to sit behind him. At the half-mile pole, I was just galloping."

"He was coming up to this race in great shape," said Attard. "I was really excited to see him run today because I kind of figured he had this performance in him."

The chestnut Wilko  gelding is now 5-for-5 during his six-year-old campaign and boasts16 wins from 32 career starts with earnings of $846,589 for owners Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman. 

Melmich returned $3.40 and $2.10. There was no show wagering.